As someone steeped in Pre-raphaelite history and having read many books re the Effie Gray/Ruskin marriage I was interested in seeing this film. At first I was ready to dislike it based on inaccuracies like the fact that Millais paintings shown at the beginning, where Effie was the model. were on display when the artist hadn't met her yet. I also disliked Julie Walters who was back doing Mrs Overall. However, after a while I began to warm to it and although it was slow I enjoyed watching it. My only criticism would be that the build up to a climax (more than Effie got) was wasted as there should have been much more about the court case annulment and Effie's marriage to Millais. The masturbation scene was completely unnecessary and did not add to the film. I did wonder why Celestia Fox who was responsible for the casting, made Millais look like everyone's idea of Rossetti and nothing like the baby faced golden haired artist of fact. Greg Wise seems to be cornering the market in cold, austere characters witness the reason TV production Outcast, but he plays them well. I wasn't sure about Emma Thompson, she has mannerisms that can be irritating. When the film ended I was left feeling that we were left hanging and anyone who knew nothing of the story would have wondered what the point of the film was.

When most people think about how far women's rights have progressed in western society over the past century or two, they usually think about voting rights, but that just scratches the surface. There has also been much progress under many aspects of law, at the workplace… and in the home. I'm talking about the right of a woman to enjoy a happy marriage – free from physical and emotional abuse, and free to enjoy physical intimacy with her husband. Divorce may not have been illegal, in, say, Victorian England, but it was definitely frowned upon – even in the instances I just mentioned.Such was the problem of Euphemia "Effie" Gray. She was a Scottish girl of 19 who married 28-year-old family friend and renowned English art critic John Ruskin in 1848. Ruskin, however, never consummated the marriage and treated her in a manner that she described as "overbearing". After suffering in silence for years, she got support from some influential individuals and succeeded in having her marriage annulled. This meant some degree of social ostracism, but at least she was able to seek out a happy marriage and have a family. Her story has been told in a silent film, a short film, in radio plays, stage plays and an opera, in a short story and in a book, on TV, and now, in the feature-length motion picture "Effie Gray" (PG-13, 1:44).Dakota Fanning plays the title character in the film, written by (and co-starring) Emma Thompson, who has previously won an Oscar for acting and another for screen writing. Fanning plays Effie as full of youthful optimism when we see her leaving rural Scotland for her wedding to John Ruskin (Greg Wise) and her new life in the big city of London. The reality of her situation quickly sets in. Her in-laws don't think Effie is good enough for their son and are afraid that she's in it for the family money and the prestige of being married to a famous art critic. Effie has trouble adjusting to her new role, speaking up when she's expected to be quiet, and humbly trying to help when she is told it is not her place. She's basically expected to be seen and not heard. Effie is not okay with that, but she might have been able to live with it if her husband showed her some respect, or even a little affection.Effie's marriage was in trouble from the very beginning. We see a discretely filmed and heartbreaking scene on Effie's wedding night when Ruskin barely looks at his wife and even leaves his bedroom when she comes to him in girlish innocence and vulnerability. For reasons that are speculated on in the film and by historians to this day, Ruskin never consummates the marriage. This leaves Effie feeling lonely and unwanted, feelings that are compounded when Ruskin treats their contrasting personalities as a problem caused by Effie. The couple drifts apart further during an extended stay in Venice where Ruskin spends his time writing and Effie spends her time socializing and site seeing. We see her slowly sink into depression and even become physically ill. The couple travels to her native Scotland for her health and are joined by up-and-coming painter John Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge), who is there to paint Ruskin's portrait. Living in the same cottage as the couple, Millais sees first-hand what Effie is dealing with and encourages her to leave her husband. When she finally opens up to a concerned society woman, Lady Eastlake (Thompson), she receives the help she needs, but it's not that simple. Effie has some tough decisions to make and a tough road ahead including the prospect of being a social pariah for the rest of her life, with no guarantee that her freedom will actually make her life better."Effie Gray" is a simple, but engaging story. It deepens the understanding of what it was like to be a woman in the 19th century and shows us how far women have come in western society. Some audience members may wish the film showed more of Effie's story, but, contrary to the film's title, Thompson's script isn't as much a biopic as a portrait of one young woman's struggle for her right to be happy. Making a movie with such a narrow focus allows for a certain depth in the plot and the freedom to explore a very small number of issues, but also slows the pace at which the story develops. Thompson has every right to choose to tell Effie's story in this way, as I have the right to feel disappointed at not seeing the dramatic moments of Effie's story that occurred after the movie's script runs out. The film is beautifully shot, nicely-acted and well-written, even if it feels incomplete. "B"

The controversy over "Effie Gray" may have been more interesting than the film itself. Screenwriter Emma Thompson was accused of plagiarism by writers of two earlier versions of the Gray saga but fortunately for her, the plaintiffs were unsuccessful. Nonetheless, as a result of the litigation, Ms. Thompson engaged in no publicity junkets to publicize her film."Effie Gray" is based on the true 19th century story of the young Scottish girl's marriage to the noted British art critic, John Ruskin. Effie was 19 at the time and Ruskin, 29. However, Ruskin, played by Greg Wise, is currently 48, which might give some viewers unfamiliar with the history the wrong impression that Ruskin was robbing the cradle.Thompson ably depicts what happened between Gray and Ruskin. As a naive, inexperienced girl, Effie's dreams of wedded bliss are shattered when she comes to live with Ruskin and his parents at their London estate. Ruskin's mother is particularly critical of Effie and they both are way over protective of their son. It soon becomes clear that Ruskin has no interest in sex and actually tells his new bride that she repulses him.Effie finds an ally in Lady Elizabeth Eastlake (played by Thompson), wife of the head of the Royal Academy of Arts, who is distressed by the repressive situation Effie faces at the Ruskin household. A trip to Venice does nothing to help the couples' floundering union, and Effie is further distressed by Ruskin's lack of attention, especially when a randy Italian, Rafael, attempts to seduce her.The rest of this saga focuses on Effie's burgeoning melancholia and a trip up to Scotland, where Ruskin commissions a young painter, Everett Millais, to paint his portrait. Sure enough Effie falls for Millais but nothing gets consummated until Effie returns to London and is encouraged by Lady Elizabeth to sue for the annulment of the marriage on the grounds of her husband's impotence.That's basically it folks! The story is unusual in that the villain of the piece is hardly guilty of what one might call a "serious infraction." But that's mainly the problem: the stakes are so low that one can hardly get excited about the goings-on here. The actors, screenwriter and cinematographer have acquitted themselves well here as this is a fine film to look at. Nonetheless, it's also a listless affair which I'm not sure was really worth telling.

In some places billed as a story of a terrible scandal, the film fails to deliver on that promise in any way. The 'facts' of the story that are on display in this film are all those that may have led up to scandal, but nothing here tells of what happened when (if) it broke! Lit as if it all took place in midwinter in the half light, I can only guess at the costumes and the sets as mostly o just saw pale faces in a sea of shadows. It is very slowly plotted, taking at least 30 minutes to get going, and the music drags it down even further into dullness, but the real shame of the film is its failure to make any real attempt to understand anyone except Effie herself. If the allegations the film makes are true (e.g. Mrs Ruskin senior was a poisoner) it's something that deserves more than the cardboard cutout that Julie Walters was given to play by way of an explanation. One expects licence in a 'based on a real life story' story (!) but it had the feel of a few bare facts knitted together with 90% fiction, which is a strange mix. I confess to not knowing how much was true and how much was Emma's own imagination, but it certainly felt like Victoria n morality and mores crudely put through the mincer of modern ideas. Badly done Emma, badly done!